A few days ago the NHTSA said it is looking into customer complaints about Tesla vehicles' sudden unintended acceleration. The US electric vehicle maker speaks up today, labeling the claims as completely false. It accuses that the person behind the petition is a TSLA short seller who is making a living by betting against the company.
Tesla released a blog post to defend itself from claims that some of its vehicles suddenly accelerate. Aside from this, the company also doubts on the validity of the petition filed with the federal safety regulators since a TSLA short seller submitted it. Last week, CNBC reported that the petition was submitted by an independent investor named Brian Sparks.
Tesla was silent a few days earlier at the height of the news and did not give any statement related to the petition. But, in a blog post, it says that it is transparent with the federal safety agency. It adds that it periodically reviews customer complaints filed with the NHTSA.
Tesla claims that over the years, it discussed with the NHTSA most of the complaints stated in the complaints. Moreover, it says that in each case that it reviewed alongside the federal safety regulator, the data revealed that the Tesla vehicle was properly functioning. The company, however, did not share details on these data.
On Monday, Sparks told CNBC that he is encouraged by the electric vehicle maker's commitment to cooperating with the NHTSA. He added that he is looking forward to knowing the reason why more Tesla owners report reports incidents of unintended acceleration than other vehicles. In the petition, Sparks said that he is concerned that the complaints are a systematic defect that the NHTSA has not yet investigated.
Additionally, he said that possible defects are a risk to the safety of the passengers, the Tesla drivers, and the public. Over the years, multiple claims of sudden unintended acceleration, which involves Tesla electric vehicles have been reported. The most talked-about case was the one that involves a Korean celebrity who claimed his Tesla Model X accelerated by itself in his garage.
But, in each case, including that one with the Korean celebrity, Tesla said that the vehicle's log revealed that it was because of pedal misapplication. Electrek reports that in one incident, the Tesla vehicle's log was verified by a third party. Based on the third-party report, it turned out that Tesla's claim was accurate as it discovered that the driver pressed on the car's accelerator.
